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 TCGIS Online Calendar
Upcoming Events:
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Sept. 25 - Capstone Exchange Begins
Sept. 26 - Board Meeting, Room 100
Sept. 27 - No School
Oct. 1 - Middle School Info Night
Oct. 7 - Governance Committee Mtg.
Oct. 9 - Early-release, 6th grade hosts
Staff Appreciation Potluck
Oct. 11 - Capstone Exchange ends
Oct. 14 - Fall Break Begins
Oct. 21 - Intern Breakfast, 1st Grade
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| Message from the Director |
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Watch today's Videogruß (video greeting) from Ted and hear about what we've been up to this week and the exciting start to our Capstone Exchange.
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School Board Announcements
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TCGIS Board Meeting Tonight
All are welcome to attend the Twin Cities German Immersion School Board meeting tonight at 6:30-8:45 pm in room 100. Share comments and concerns with the Board during open forum, or attend to hear updates from our Executive Director, Parent and Teacher Liaisons and Board committees, including: Administrative Liaison, Finance, Fundraising & Development, Governance, and Facilities. Michael White, School Culture and Student Success Coordinator, will give a presentation on his new role and plans to support the schoolwide goals. For
volunteer recognition
, the Board will thank the fall and year-long intern Host Families and Kari and Adam Lindberg for their organization of the PTO's Oktoberfest 5K Fun Run. Click here for the
full agenda.
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Governance Committee Meeting: Oct. 7
Please join the Governance Committee at the next meeting (Oct. 7, 3:45 PM, Room 99) to discuss these very important policies that affect all students and staff
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506 Student Discipline & Notice of Suspension
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603 Curriculum Development
You may review the individual policies by clicking on the respective links above.
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Openings for New Students in Grades 2, 4, 5 and 6
Please reach out to your network and help the school find German-speaking 4th, 5th and 6th graders, and families with 2nd graders who may or may not speak German. This is a great opportunity to grow our school community and for new German-speaking students to join TCGIS for middle school.
Perhaps you know a family who recently moved to the Twin Cities, or families who applied to TCGIS in the past but didn't make it off the waitlist? Feel free to share the post from our TCGIS Facebook page
with them and families in your network
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Interested families should contact the Front Office at info@tcgis.org for more information. Thanks for your support!
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TCGIS Needs You
TCGIS believes in the power of German immersion to develop interculturally aware and empathetic students and to build vibrant relationships in German and non-German environments. Now more than ever, we need the support of our community as we continue to advance our mission.
We are the only public German immersion school in the U.S., and the only German immersion school in the state of Minnesota. We do fantastic things with about 40% less funding than traditional public schools, which is why we need your financial support to help us advance our mission with the quality instruction we provide to our students.
Your donations to the TCGIS General Fund help us:
- Attract and retain teachers fluent in German who are critical to our school's mission and harder to find than teachers who only speak English. It's essential that we retain all of our talented teachers and staff, without whom we could not teach our children.
- Ensure our fantastic Intern Program is sustainable. Interns provide our students and teachers with access to native speakers of German and an additional teaching resource in the classroom. It also incurs costs for visa processing, daily lunches, a monthly living stipend and more.
- Purchase the essential German language books and learning materials necessary for our Immersion curriculum which cost more to procure from Germany.
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Three easy ways to support the TCGIS General Fund
... and sport your school spirit in the community as well!
- Select "Twin Cities German Immersion School" as your charity of choice when you order from AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com); Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to TCGIS. This is so easy to do!
- Purchase a yard sign, a car magnet or the book Achtung Baby from TCGIS, online
or in the front office; payment by credit card, cash, and checks accepted.
- Donate to the General Fund anytime via the TCGIS Square shop.
Herzlichen Dank! Thank you!
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Picture Day is Thursday, October 3
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Parent Information Night for Grades 5-8
Middle School Families: mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 1st, 6:00-8:00pm!
As stated in the Middle School update earlier this month, this night was originally intended for grades 5-7 parents but due to strong interest of our 8th grade families,
we are now inviting all middle school families to attend.
Our 8th grade teacher team will be prepared with information about 8th grade curriculum and open for questions. Thanks to all our TCGIS families for your engagement!
The purpose of this event is to give parents and teachers the chance to get to know each other and also to provide insight about class content and expectations/procedures in your child's classes. After an introduction from Herr Anderson, you will follow your child's Monday
schedule
and you will visit each class for about 10 minutes. More information and schedules will be sent via email in the Middle School update next week.
We look forward to seeing you there!
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Collecting Empty Oatmeal and Cereal Boxes for Art
Frau Lenburg is collecting empty round oatmeal and cereal boxes. They will be used in a few weeks for the K-3rd graders to make lanterns for our school Martinstag celebration (look for more information in the coming weeks). Boxes can be brought to the office or to Frau Lenburg in the art room. Danke!
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No TCGIS Summer Camps during 2020 Summer Break
Due to the construction project, TCGIS Summer Camps will not be offered at the end of this school year. If you are looking to sign your child up for some German-language camps, please contact the Germanic American Institute (GAI) for their summer camp program.
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MCA Scores
Scores for last year's 3rd graders and 8th graders (current 4th and 9th graders) will be mailed home over the next few weeks. Parents may also pick them up in the office.
Scores for current 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders may be picked up by a parent in the front office during office hours, except for 2:45-3:30 when the front office is busy with dismissal and unable to distribute them.
If you would prefer your child pick them up to bring them home, please email the office with this request.
Parents may also pick-up scores at the Middle School Curriculum Night on Tuesday, October 1.
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Fahrradtag
The annual 4th
grade bike day took place on the 17th
of September. Sixty-seven TCGIS students are now proud owners of the German-Austrian Fahrrad-Führerschein. They not only completed an obstacle course, but also took a test on bike safety and road signs. Afterwards they showed their skills while riding their bikes around Como Lake. To finish up a great day, they got to spend some time on the Como Playground.
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| After School & Extra-curricular Activities |
After-School Activities on PikMyKid - - Please Read
Please be sure to set changes in PikMyKid for any days your child has after-school activities. You can set a recurring change until December 20th or set them one by one. However, please note that we have no after-school activities on early-release days: October 9th and November 20th, and also no activities the week of conferences: November 11-15, so be sure to remove any recurring dismissal changes on those days. Vielen Dank!
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| Ways to be involved and support TCGIS |
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2019-20 Parent Council Elections: voting open now
Vote for your Parent Council representative by Sunday Sept. 29! Learn more about the Nominees by clicking on the grade listed on
this document and reading the Nominees' introductions. Then
click here to vote.
Four homerooms do not have any nominations:
3B, 6B, 7A and 8B. Parents with a child in these classes may write in a candidate on the ballot, if they wish; the Parent Council will follow-up with any write-in candidates after voting has concluded.
Each FAMILY has ONE vote PER child, so if you have more than one child, one parent may vote in each child's class.
For example:
- Families with ONE child: parents must decide which one (1) parent will vote this election
- Families with MORE than one child: both parents may participate by voting in separate homerooms (e.g. Parent A votes in KA and Parent B votes in 4C), or ONE parent may vote in BOTH (or ALL) homerooms.
Vote here! And thank you for participating in this year's Parent Council election!
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Helping Our New International Staff
We wish to say a huge
thank you to all of the families who have donated their time and furnishings to help many of our new staff settle into their new homes here in MN. You have made such a difference!
We are reaching out to our community again because there is another area where we could really use help in supporting our staff.
Are you able to help our international teachers obtain car insurance at a reasonable price? Car insurance is an expense that is extremely costly for international staff because they do not have a driving history here in the U.S. and therefore pay
significantly higher premiums, sometimes as high as $2000/year. This can be a major obstacle to living and working here in the U.S. If you may be able to help or connect us with someone who can help, please email Tina Haarbusch
(thaarbusch@tcgis.org).
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Plant Sale is Going on Now!
Get your winter wreaths, swag, and succulent plants from Gerten's! These are beautiful arrangements.
Share the link with friends and family, too. Pickup is December 2nd at TCGIS.
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The PTO Auction: Taking Donations Now!
The Auction and Strudel Sale is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year. We are looking for Great Gatherings, Great Stuff and Teacher & Admin Events. Take a look at the Auction website for ideas and inspiration,
and please don't hesitate to reach out with questions!
Email your ideas and questions to:
tcgispto@gmail.com
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Box Tops for Education
Got Box Tops? We are collecting Box Tops for Education and there is a collection bucket in the main office. Please send in what you have, preferably in bags of 25 or 50, but any amount is wonderful. The Box Tops program is starting to phase out the clip-able coupons and is going digital. After you download the app and set TCGIS as your school, just scan your receipt and the school will get your Box Top credit. Please continue to clip the clip-able coupons, and if you see the Box Top digital label all you need to do is scan the receipt.
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Important PTO Dates and Events for 2019-20
Have a look at the
2019-20 PTO Dates to see what great things we have in store this year!
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News from the GAI  |
Fall Events at the GAI
Kaffeestube European Breakfast Buffet
Saturday, October 19, 2019 | 8:30 to 11 AM - Reservation required!
Introduction to German Genealogy Workshop With Kaffeestube Buffet
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Genealogy Workshop begins at 10 AM
FallVergnügen Registration is Now Open!
Spice up your autumn with our special short session classes.
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